Gov. Pat Quinn had been in office only a few hours last year when he vowed to do something his impeached predecessor did not — live in the Executive Mansion in Springfield.
But a Tribune analysis of his official travel schedule shows that Quinn stays at the ornate, taxpayer-funded house only sporadically. During his first year in office, Quinn slept there 55 nights, mostly while lawmakers were in session. He didn't spend more than three consecutive nights in the executive mansion.
As Quinn runs for election, his decision not to live in the mansion belies the populist image that he's made one of his top political selling points.
"It's a symbolic thing, and for Quinn, a public pronouncement thing," said Christopher Mooney, a political science professor at the University of Illinois- Springfield. "There's some financial aspect, but it's small. It's mostly symbolic of the extent to which a governor is embracing state government."
Mooney's comments were featured in a May 26, 2010, article in the Chicago Tribune.
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